Ready.gov has developed some great tools to assist us with our own personal preparedness measures.  Completing their suggested plans will go a long way toward preventing us, our families, and even our pets from becoming victims who need rescuing rather than people who are prepared to deal with an emergency and provide help to others, whether it’s our neighbors or our work place and patrons who need help.

Especially check out the “My Family Emergency Plan.”  Clicking on the “Go” link there pulls up a sequential form you can fill out and which will result in a PDF document you can download and/or print for your family.  (My only problem with it is that there is enough room for only two pets, and I will have to add our third dog and our four horses as my children, which is perfectly fitting given the lives they lead.)  At the end of the emergency plan is the opportunity to print out emergency cards for family members to carry.  Very cool tools!

Thanks to a newsletter I received today from Heritage Preservation, I learned about a new online, free course offering from the Northeast Document Conservation Center  (NEDCC) called “Preservation 101.”  The class is aimed specifically toward librarians and other caretakers of cultural resources who work in small and moderate-sized libraries or organizations.  (A link to NEDCC is also located on the toolkit in the right column under “Comprehensive Disaster Plan Training,” the North East section.) 

As a side note, I recommend that people sign up to be on the mailing list for Heritage Preservation if they are interested in conservation and preservation activities or current awareness ofnthe topic.  The emails I receive from them are few and far-between and are always contain articles or information relevant to our interests in emergency preparedness.

Suggestion #14:  Communication information.  The heart of your disaster plan will be your communication procedures and information.  Thinking through the process and gathering the needed information ahead of time can save valuable moments in an emergency. 

You might create a summary page to begin your Communication section that includes:

• a protocol for communication:  a telephone tree and/or the voice mail message on your main incoming phone
• instructions about how communication to the media will be handled
• information about other sources of information, such as the institution’s web page and local TV and radio stations

Following the summary page, you can add the following, most of which probably already exist, perhaps in your Administration department, or with whomever handles your human resources and financial management:

• a list of all work and home phone numbers and addresses for staff  (including a notice that all home contact information for staff is confidential, and cannot be shared with anyone outside the library)
• a list of phone numbers for important contact people or departments outside your library, such as your facilities management, environmental services, housekeeping, etc.
• a list of contact information for your most important vendors, such as publishers
• contact information for other libraries in your region that might be called upon for support in an emergency

This quote was taken from a recent article in seattlepi.com.  It’s from a member of an emergency preparedness commission who was asked to assess emergency preparedness in the Seattle area following last week’s wintry weather.  As you read through the article, note once again the emphasis placed on the importance of communication during an emergency.  This might be a good opportunity for all of us to revisit communication in our disaster plans.  What sources will we use to receive information?  How will we distribute information to our staff and patrons?

This quote was taken from a recent article in seattlepi.com.  It’s from a member of an emergency preparedness commission who was asked to assess emergency preparedness in the Seattle area following last week’s wintry weather.  As you read through the article, note once again the emphasis placed on the importance of communication during an emergency.  This might be a good opportunity for all of us to revisit communication in our disaster plans.  What sources will we use to receive information?  How will we distribute information to our staff and patrons?

“When disaster strikes, you may have only a short time to make what might be a life or death decision.”

The above quote is taken from a web page maintained by the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, Clarksville, Tennessee. The site explains the emergency alerting system for their area.

What alerting system exists for your area?

Another article emphasizing the importance of having an emergency action plan for your workplace.